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The game developers has a special treat prepared for Apex Legends gamers, arriving just in time for festive season. Enthusiasts of the battle royale's highly fluid traversal will be pleased to discover that an innovative traversal feature will be introduced when Season 27: Amped launches on Nov. 4.

Unveiling The Mantle Boost

Dubbed "Momentum Boosting" by Respawn, this feature gives players a surge of forward momentum when climbing over ledges and walls. As explained key developer the design lead, Mantle Boosting was previously been a feature of Apex Legends for some time, usually referred to as "mantle jumping." However it's challenging for the average player, and is mainly used by pro gamers in competitive play or tournaments. In this update, the team simplifies the process for everyone to execute these tricky speed-boosts.

"This technique have been in Apex for some time, but the movement requires skill to pull off and a player would never know it [is in the game] without external guides," Canavese states. "Now including a Mantle Boost indicator so players can clearly identify when and how to activate the fast-paced traversal skill, making accessible the feature and introducing fresh strategies to play for a much wider base."

The Reasoning Behind Make It Accessible

Why make a once niche movement quirk accessible to all players? Principal designer the development lead says the team wants gamers to feel powerful — including ones who are inexperienced.

"Our community performs other crazy stuff like super-gliding and tap-strafing, and we looked around at our competition, looked at what our players execute, and we said, 'What if we extend these capabilities to more players?'" the designer clarifies. "Since right now, some of these advanced [movement] mechanics are kind of janky to access — it requires to remap your keybinds and execute within precise timings. We proposed, 'How about we make a more official implementation?'"

Season 27 Movement Focus

Movement is largely the central theme in Season 27, with Legends the gravity mage, Rampart, and the aerial combatant all getting enhancements to help keep them mobile. Recovery time on Horizon's Gravity Lift is shorter, and this skill will propel users upward much quicker than before. Rampart's Amped Cover feature a roof and the ability to provide movement bonuses to those nearby. But it's the high-flying this Legend receiving the most attention this season, with multiple tweaks implemented to make her more potent, faster, and deadlier.

"I think there's quite a consensus that her moment has arrived," states Legend designer Ian Holstead. "Certainly that she's been top-tier previously, but due to the addition of new Legends, mobility perks, and Evac Towers, it seemed like she's not very relevant in today's Apex. It was an ideal chance for us to reexamine a bunch of aspects in her abilities and essentially restore her to her glory days."

Valkyrie's Upgrades

To restore her competitive status in the game's meta, the developer notes Respawn evaluated each of her abilities and implemented some powerful changes. Her VTOL Jets received improvements, boosting velocity while airborne, and this equipment now recharge three times faster, allowing the player to spend more time in the air. Now she won't take damage from her ultimate ability, which was enhanced to tag opponents who take damage from the missiles. Her squad redeploy ability — which lifts teammates skyward for repositioning or escape — now takes reduced delay to fire up. Additionally, she gains some new perk choices that players can choose to conserve resources, expand the spread of her Missile Swarm, or accelerate her ultimate activation.

"Valkyrie's equipment fulfills that jet-fighter fantasy," he comments.

Map Changes

Additionally, the lone airborne map, Olympus, is getting a movement-friendly overhaul, with major changes that opens up choke points and renders claiming the high ground more manageable. The developers says the game Season 27 focuses on giving players the tools they need to compete in matches.

"Essentially, we examined the game's core identity as a fast-paced FPS," says principal designer Josh Mohan.

The battle royale the Amped season launches November 4th at 10 a.m. PST/1 p.m. EST.